


Vaultie

by UnrealRomance



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Fallout (Video Games)
Genre: And the Fallout universe modified to fit DA, Basically the DA Characters modified for Fallout, Cause Vault Tec just kinda does that, Crossover, Dragon Age in the Fallout Universe, F/M, Just a different explanation for who and what they are, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Nonhuman Characters are still nonhuman, Post-Apocalypse, Vault-Tec Experimentation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-07-14 06:09:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16034585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnrealRomance/pseuds/UnrealRomance
Summary: In which we all know how scummy and villainous Vault-Tec is, but the main character and all her friends have to live with the consequences of their bullshit and pick up the pieces as they try to survive an unforgiving wasteland.Clinging to ideals and remnants of the past is no way to live, but which values should be forgotten and which should you hold dear?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been feeling so listless lately but after starting on this story, I got a burst of inspiration for Unwritten, so I'm thinking it's helping with my creative juices. I'm gonna piece on this whenever I can, but there will be no regular schedule.

It was never supposed to be this way. The Vaults were supposed to protect us.

They had a supply of enough canned, pickled and preservative-loaded food to last us a couple hundred years. Radiation couldn't get in. And everyone got their own rooms.

Only they didn't tell us that some of us got rooms inside test tubes. Which made the food last longer and the rooms a lot roomier, since they knew they wouldn't have to actually house half of us.

There's no way in hell I can make any kind of heads or tails of the technical science-y shit on this terminal but I gathered enough to realize they were using an embryonic fluid filled with stem cells and a concoction of other shit to keep us young so they could keep doing experiments on us.

My tube powered down and woke me up to salvage what power it could for the other tubes. The few that are left, anyway.

A whole bunch of them are broken, with corpses spilling out of the glass or on the floor next to them.

Clicking through the terminal and finding a log about 'riots', I understand most of what happened. People found out about this project, tried to free the people in the tubes…and ended up killing them, instead. You can't just…break somebody out of the tubes. You have to use the terminal to shut it down, or the computer has to shut down the tube itself to preserve power.

Breaking it open just causes shock and in some cases, traumatic brain injuries. The scientists all appear to have survived the riot, but then starved until they experienced paranoia and hallucinations and…shot each other to death.

Well. Isn't that lovely.

I'd say they deserved it, for what they did, but. Well, I'd have preferred their deaths to be quick and clean. That's what separates me from them. I don't toy with people and I don't enjoy their pain. That has to be the difference between us. I can never…ever, be like them.

My entire life was lost to me. My  _family_  died without me, in the outer rooms of this vault. Because these people wanted to purge them- joke was on them, though. The purge damaged the door systems so they couldn't get out.

I didn't have a huge family. Just my parents, a couple siblings. I am…very determinedly not thinking about them right now. I can't deal with all this at once. I need to compartmentalize.

I can realize the horror of their deaths and the gaping chasm of their presence in my life after I figure out how to leave this place and…what I should do next.

Do I let them all out? How do I explain everything that's happened to them? How do I justify possibly dooming them to starvation if I haven't figured a way out?

From what I can see, there's no putting them back in the tubes after they come out. There's no more of that…fluid shit for them to float in. Once it drains, that's…it.

But I can't do this by myself, that's…obvious. So…I open up their…subject files. Ugh. I hate these people so much. They labeled us with numbers instead of names. Probably hoping that depersonalizing us enough would make it easier on them to…do what they did.

Subjects A2-3 and B4-7 are both women who used to be soldiers- but they were different kinds of soldiers. One was a frontline weapons specialist and the other was a spy? That's interesting, but not really helpful for my situation.

Subject E5-6 is a Sophisticate. That's the word they use. Some kind of big name player in politics. Also interesting, also not really helpful.

The last Subject, D8-1 is…a little shrouded in mystery. They say things like procurator, espionage and even a few things that make it sound like he's some kinda mob boss or something?

If it's a choice between a crafty criminal and a politician, I'm going with the criminal. It's probably more likely he'll be able to find a way out of here than her. After all, she's probably got mostly a talent for talking. Or at least, I have to assume, since I know nothing else about her. And I can't just open both their pods without cause on the off-chance she had some kinda hobby for cracking safes and computer systems and whatnot.

So I take a deep breath, and hit the controls for Subject D8-1's pod to open.

I watch as the pink fluid slowly drains, dreading the moment when it finally spits him out and I'll have to explain everything. Because…well, how the fuck am I even going to explain it all when it hasn't even really sunk in, yet?

When the tube finally ascends and frees the gasping, coughing and blinking man from inside, I can see he's a blonde man. Short, stout and…ah, I forgot we're all naked in our tubes. The pink goop is so murky, I can only see the outlines of their bodies but now that he's out, he'll need something to wear.

I find the locker where I got my own clothes from and grab a pile of whatever I can find in all the other ones and drag them over to set in front of him on a table just a bit away from the tube. Don't want him getting them all wet, after all. I can give him one of those labcoats I found to use as a towel.

He'll have a whole selection as soon as he comes to his senses and fully wakes up.

Which…takes a while. Naturally. To me it seemed to be all happening both too fast and too slow. Even after I became more aware of my surroundings, my reflexes and strength…well, they still haven't completely returned to me and I'm not sure what kinda damage has been done…

It could be we're permanently effected by being suspended in this shit for two hundred years.

"What…wh…what the…hell…" He's rasping and I swallow in reflexive sympathy. We're both parched, but we'll have to deal with it until we can somehow get out to the food and water locked up in the pantry in another part of the vault. Otherwise…our deaths will be…

I don't wanna think about it.

"Stay calm, and breathe," I kneel down next to him and hold out the labcoat. "We don't have access to any actual towels, so…this'll have to do."

He looks at me with incomprehension, but he seems to understand enough to take the labcoat and start rubbing the pink residue off of his skin.

I turn around and sit down, to give him privacy, but also security. Knowing someone is there might be…comforting. I dunno.

"Where…the hell am I?" I can tell he's still acclimatizing to being awake and out. His words are slow, slurred and his tone is irritable.

' _Been there. Felt that._ '

"We're in that Vault we signed up to join. They drugged us and then put us in test tubes," I say. This is the most simple and easy to understand part. People are shit and some of those shit people treated us like lab rats. The part that'll be hard to wrap their heads around will be the time jump and…whatever family they might've had…explaining they're all dead now…

There's a long pause as his brain processes the words and he figures out a response. I can hear him still wiping the goop off behind me, so I don't turn around.

"Everyone else?" he asks.

I'm guessing that's the least amount of words he could say and still expect me to understand what he's asking.

"Half the Vault got put into the tubes, but the other half just got lodgings. They specially chose people from families and then separated those families. I had parents and siblings. I was within the age range they needed for the C-series of subjects. You're from the D-series, so you're in your…late thirties? Maybe mid-to-late thirties?"

He coughs, "not polite to ask."

I chuckle a little bit. I can tell he's trying to be witty. Not easy when your brain is slowly booting up after two hundred years or so of being pickled.

"Scientists?" he asks.

Ah, and here's the hard part.


	2. Chapter 2

"I can't believe it was so easy for you," I shove a sugar bomb in my mouth and moan at the burst of flavor. After thinking I was going to starve to death or something, food just…tastes better. I was really fucking hungry when I came out of that tube, too.

Maybe the nutrients had long since begun to run out? That's probably why it spit me out.

"Lockpicking and Hacking are my specialties," Varric says. "Aside from smooth talking and personal grooming, of course. Gotta look good and be likable in my lines of work."

Varric Tethras. That famous Author who lived in our neighborhood that nobody ever seemed to run into. I can't even believe what is happening right now. I don't know what was up with his file or how he knows how to lockpick or hack- but I mean. I'm a writer. I understand that sometimes you pick up weird skills and knowledge in the pursuit of realistic depictions and portrayals.

Doesn't seem  _that_  strange when viewed from that angle. And I am just… _not_  gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Do you think we should wake the others up or wait till the pods spit them out?" I ask.

He sighs, "well we won't know what they'd want us to do until we open up those pods, so it's not like we can just leave 'em in there. I mean. What if they didn't wanna be in there anymore? Worst comes to worst, we'll live the rest of our lives in here, which…we were already prepared to do, anyway."

He works his jaw a bit and I see him glance off into the corner of the room where a bunch of hastily constructed barricades house some…old skeletons.

"We should clean this place up, first," I say.

He looks at me and shrugs, "we've been doin' just fine. I mean, why not let them help with that? It's a lot of work for just two people."

"The soldiers, maybe," I reply. "There's a soldier and a spy, but…the last person is some kinda Socialite."

He snorts, "oh they'll be the most okay of all of us. Mark my words. You don't get to be popular and well-known enough to be that important without havin' to step on some throats- and maybe slitting a few."

"I'm not gonna ask how you know that," I say. "But should we wake them up right now? Wait till morning?"

Varric shakes his head, "either way suits me fine. I'm…exhausted though. Don't think I could handle the explanations right now."

"I could barely handle explaining to you," I agree. "So…tomorrow morning. We can wake everyone up, one at a time, put them in different…rooms to rest…"

"You still wanna clean up, don't ya?" he says with a little laugh in his voice.

He could probably tell from the look on my face and the struggle I've got in my voice. Imagining them all sleeping in a room where someone died is kind of…disgusting.

"We should at least clean out three rooms and the hallway to get to the rooms. I mean. They'll be vulnerable, exhausted, hungry- we should make it as easy on them as we can. I would've for you too, if I could've picked that lock and hacked that terminal."

It was more complicated to get out than just…unlocking the door. Varric had to pick the lock on a vent, crawl through to the other side, then hack the terminal to let me out.

The whole time I was just hoping to god he wouldn't run off and leave me there or die somehow- I didn't know what the purge did so I wasn't sure if it was some kind of poison or something else that could hurt him before he could open the door- all I knew was I wanted  _out_  and his way of doing things was our only chance.

"You're a nice kid," he says. "If you want help gathering supplies, I'm your man…but…I really don't wanna get near enough those bones to recognize the people that used to be in 'em. They've still got clothes and jewelry on in some cases, and…" He trails off.

I understand.

"Just make three lunchboxes of food and have them ready for me- along with any other kind of amenities you think they might need. Is there soap in the rooms or…" I trail off and sigh. "Just do the lunchboxes and I'll get the rest."

"No problem," he agrees easily. "Still gotta get into that armory and find the shit they took when I first walked in here. Damn. Bianca's probably been alone this whole time. I wonder if her power cells still work."

"Bianca…?" I ask with a quirk of my brow.

"When I find her, I'll show you." There's an amused twinkle in his eye as he says it. "She and I have been together for…eh…about a decade and a half. Being separated for two hundred years…" He makes a face. "Well, it's about time I go and find her."

"I'm just gonna go and grab some supplies," I say. Standing from the table, I close the box of sugar bombs I was eating out of and put it up in one of the cabinets, where I can grab it later if I get peckish.

And then…it's time to start cleaning.

Don't get me wrong, it's cruel, disgusting, dangerous work…but allowing my mind to go on autopilot after a while, is…soothing. The act of cleaning itself just makes me so…calm. I usually only get to experience this when my anxiety is so high it overrides my depression.

Guess this is one of those days.

There's a lot to be depressed about, sure. But it seems like there's a  _whole_  lot to be paranoid over, even now. God I hate my brain.

I'm able to gather up the bones in some tarps and toss them all in a heap on top of a really big one that I'm able to fold up over the bones and tie together at the ends. Those little rings at the corners are handy for that part.

Won't be moving this huge ass pile of bones, clothing and jewelry any time soon, but at least it's out of the way.

Most of the bodies were out right in front of the door to the lab, so I've basically removed almost all of them already. But there's…still more.

Some still in their rooms, holding onto each other or huddling in the corner. God…those fucking scientists.

I can't remember if I found my parents, it's all such a blur. And thank god for that, really. I've had enough horror for a lifetime.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh my," Vivienne looks at the tarp filled with bones and a hand delicately lifts to cover her mouth. "So fortunate you thought to cover them all. I'm certain our companions appreciate it. But…I would like to see if my husband is among these people."

"Well, I didn't see anyone in there dressed like they were rich," I shrug. "He could possibly still be in his room."

She nods absent-mindedly, probably not really listening to me. But well, I guess that's to be expected. She just found out she was a human experiment and also that her husband died two hundred years ago.

Vivienne Irons. She and her husband came to the Vault together and got split up. Apparently her husband was some big name in weapons technology back before the war. Not a technician or anything- just some guy who owned and managed factories.

"They are here then?" Leliana's voice echoes from behind us and I jolt. She chuckles a little. "I am sorry I startled you."

"You gotta teach me how you do that," I sigh as my heart thumps hard in my chest. Calming slowly. "And…yeah. The ones I could find out in the hall before the science lab. I'm sure there's more."

"I am going to search the suites and then…inspect the lab we came out of," Vivienne says. Walking past us and out the door.

I think maybe staring at a tarp'd pile of corpses was a little much for her. Varric was right in that she's been holding together better than anyone so far but…I dunno, I've never bought the 'cool and stony' act from anyone. I've got a kind of hyper-empathy and I can always tell when someone's faking it.

Vivienne looks like a still pond but under the surface there's riptides.

So now it's just me and Leliana, standing awkwardly in the room where I stored at least fifty dead bodies. Maybe more, maybe a little less. I wasn't exactly counting.

"I came here with Cassandra and her family," Leliana informs me as she observes the tarp. "I brought one of our neighbors with me as well. We all checked in together, so perhaps that is why they took Cassandra and I together. After all, they had writers, technicians, scientists…a matching set of soldiers would have been…" She trails off and looks at me. "I apologize. I realize my rambling sometimes discomfits people."

I shrug, "don't worry about it. I make people uncomfortable, too."

We share a small smile, but then it's back to fixating on the bodies. And that  _is_  what we're doing. And it's…not good.

"Let's head back down and see if we can't find some…recreational spaces in here." I gesture back toward the door. "Standing here and staring at them isn't going to accomplish anything."

She nods and follows me down the hallway, closing the door behind us.

Now…this place was never actually meant to house our families.

I thought before that they took us and separated us from our families in order to experiment on us, but…leave our families alone.

Turns out the purge was always meant to happen. These rooms were meant for the scientists to live in after the purge had killed everyone. That's why there were no beds or rooms connected to the science lab.

Varric found encrypted file that detailed the plan but the official files had long since been lost.

Our families were going to be put in vats to… _dissolve_  them. For DNA and other experiments. Also, if one of us spontaneously had kidney failure or something, all they'd have to do is extract us, grow us a new kidney from our relatives' DNA, transplant it, then put us back in.

It was all very…clinical. Things were edging along on schedule…before somehow, someone got wise and tried to lead a revolt against the scientists.

Cassandra and Leliana knew the name in the file, and it seemed to effect them pretty badly. They didn't wanna talk about it, though. We could all tell. So nobody asked.

But the scientists were intended to live here, so…there had to be some kind of downtime activities planned, right? Something to take our minds off of the horrors that happened and were  _going_  to happen here.

Varric is with Cassandra in the Kitchen, figuring out our rationing system.

There really was enough food for a hundred years or so- because those scientists anticipated needing to grow children from those vats that were a mixture of their genes…and ours. To continue their work. So they really did need a big supply for all of them going forward.

God, I'm sick just thinking about it. A child with my DNA and that of one of the scientists keeping me imprisoned. Would I have carried one to term? After all, that would've been an experiment, wouldn't it? Having me give birth in that tank.

I don't want to think about this anymore, it's making my skin crawl.

In the end, Leliana and I are only able to find one recreation room filled with books. All other rooms are for some kind of training. I'd assume for the children they were going to raise. Science equipment, weights and running machines. Targets and practice rifles and pistols that shot very weak beams of light.

Upside? Things needed maintenance but were pretty much in working order.

"A science lab besides the one we came out of, you say?" Vivienne is very interested in the labs.

She sees the quizzical expression on my face and chuckles. "Well, I do have doctorates in many fields of biology, chemistry and physics. I would prefer to do some sort of experimental work over reading or lifting weights."

Well she seemed pretty clever, but I never would've pegged her for a scientist. Beneath the sorta cold facade, she seems very emotional and warm. I always associated that with nurses and particularly nice doctors- but not scientists.

I guess they're not all terrible, horrible people who use human beings like guinea pigs.

"I will use the workout room more than anyone else here, I think," Cassandra looks at the tiny map on the table we've drawn. "Aside from perhaps Leliana, but I believe she would prefer the library."

We still aren't…comfortable, using the pip-boy's we found.

"Indeed, there are a multitude of books on subjects I am eager to learn," Leliana agrees. "I will join you for morning and evening routine."

Cassandra and Leliana smile at that. Glad to have someone they know they share things in common with. Must be nice.

It isn't jealousy I feel but I still feel bad for being forlorn over something I should be happy about. They're happy. That's important.

"I'll probably mostly stick to my room with the terminal we took from the lab," Varric says while scribbling a little note in his journal.

"Guess that just leaves me," I say with a smile. "I want to try out that shooting range with you and Cassandra."

Leliana nods gravely, "we will show you how to handle the guns. It is a good skill to have."

"I would prefer you didn't have to learn it, but…" Cassandra trails off. "It is always good to be prepared."

"Shit, sign me and Bianca up for that, too. Just as soon as I find her," he says. "Wasn't with our personal effects, so she's probably in the armory, like I thought. I'm gonna go look for her now, matter of fact. Let's meet up in the training room in a half hour."


	4. Chapter 4

"How  _dare_  you," Cassandra seethes. She's glaring at the weapon in Varric's hand like she wants to snatch it up and break it over her knee.

He's got it held with the point down, but he's also kind of got his hand on the grip and guard like he'll fire if she gives him reason to. "How dare I what? Own something that was made for me? Last I checked the laws specified you had to buy these bad boys for it to be illegal."

"Technicalities-" Cassandra stomps a little closer and I step between them, one hand going in either direction. "Get out of my-"

"The end of the world probably means those laws no longer exist, Cassandra," I say. Low and soothing, as much as I can manage with my heart pounding in my ears. "So who are you enforcing them for?"

"They still existed then!" she shouts and points at him authoritatively around me. "He endangered us all!"

"By giving it up to be locked in a safe?" I ask. "It's not like he smuggled it in his luggage and hid it under his bed, Cassandra."

She snarls a little bit and paces away from me to tread a path back and forth in the concrete. "You are not understanding my point! That weapon is volatile and dangerous. Especially in the hands of those who would purchase or order them illegally. And the kind of person to find a loophole in the law so they might own a weapon of such destruction is the kind of person who will absolutely use it to harm innocents!"

Varric huffs, "bullshit. I only ever used this thing to intimidate men in bars who didn't know how to keep their hands to themselves. And I wore it to scare people off if they thought I was a good mark for robbing."

He pops open a chamber on it. And there's only one…little rod?

"This power source is only good for a handful of shots. Then you've gotta reload it. It can hold up to five of these power sources at a time and at full charge with all parts intact, yes, I'd be a force to be reckoned with. But I only bought the one power source so I could shoot in the air or at someone's feet in case they didn't believe it worked." He slings it over his shoulder. "Nobody's ever actually been shot with this gun. Are you kidding me? I'm an author. My sales would drop like a stone if anybody even  _suspected_  I did that kind of shit."

"Why did you have it made, then!?" she demands. "Why not get a gun that isn't illegal?"

He rolls his eyes. "I didn't say I ordered it or had it made. I said it was  _made for me_. My…" He trails off and we all still in a moment of remembrance for the people who are dead now. Every once in a while, we just…get reminded that it's two hundred years past our expected life spans. And that everyone we loved, died in here.

"My girlfriend, at the time," he rolls his shoulders. "She gave it to me after she made it. She was an inventor. And just so you know, this particular type of gun doesn't exist anywhere else so there weren't laws against them anyway. And yeah, I know what it  _looks_  like. But it's a completely new, experimental weapon. No laws, no intent to go on a shooting spree, okay?"

And then he turns on his heel and leaves the room.

I think Cassandra feels guilty, but she doesn't want to admit it, so she turns around and stomps off too. The look on her face was a little faraway, a little chagrined. Still kinda irritated.

That's going to take some work to mend. But we've got to, somehow. We all have to live together in here, after all.

Vivienne and I share a look across the room, and then Leliana catches my eyes. None of us know what to do, but we all know something has to be done.

And when the alarms start going off, we all freeze, still looking at each other. Our eyes are all wider, glancing between each other with fear until Varric comes running through with his rifle in his hands.

"Seeker!" he shouts. "Grab a gun from the armory, I don't know what's going on but someone's trying to get in!"

He gives everybody nicknames. Cassandra was one of those search-and-rescue soldiers. So he calls her 'seeker'.

It's to Cassandra's credit that she doesn't hesitate after running back into the room. She heads straight for the armory. She doesn't have anything against guns in general. I think it was just that Varric's was some kind of top of the line  _Destroyer_. It's the slang term for it, not the actual one.

Those kinds of rifles can shoot and kill from a pretty far distance and do so in a really horrifically powerful way. Like explosive. But Varric said it was custom and experimental. So it could be even more powerful than that.

Who knows.

I still have no idea how to use a gun, so while Leli and Cass are picking up rifles and slipping on knives in sheathes, I pick up a baseball bat.

When I see Vivienne with a sniper rifle in her hands, I quirk an eyebrow at her.

She smiles mysteriously and we run together out into the antechamber to hide behind some cover with the others as we wait to see who's come inside.

It doesn't escape any of us that anyone who'd survived the war is likely hurting for supplies, and we've got a lot of them. But we weren't even sure people'd survived.

So this is both really good, and really bad.

It takes whoever they are, some time to reach us. They seem to take their time, probably poking around the entrance to the Vault. But since the only other door to the inner rooms is sealed and blocked with furniture- they have to come this way eventually.

And when they do, they pause in the entrance of the room, staring at the four guns pointed at them, and me, with a bat.

They've got a rifle in their hands, but it's held down, at rest. They're wearing some kind of breather mask, with a hood and a scarf wrapped around their neck. A leather jacket, reinforced, it looks like? Lots of pouches at their waist. And knife sheaths on their thighs.

And some kind of mirrored visor thing. Can't see their eyes through it.

There's a pause, and then- "Ah. You are the dwellers." The breath mask makes it difficult to distinguish their voice under the odd...reverberation.

"Dwellers?" just kinda pops out of my mouth. It seems like such an odd term.

"In the wasteland, people who dwell in Vaults are…Vault Dwellers," they reply. As if they're kinda surprised they had to explain that. "Have you never left? Strange to find unopened Vaults now. If you don't know…none of you have ever ventured to the surface?"

"We just woke up, as it were," Varric explains amicably. Rifle still pointed in their general direction, but not really in a menacing fashion. More a warning. "What do you want?"

"As I said, it is strange for people to be sealed up in Vaults without ever having opened it…I was not expecting anyone to be alive. Vaults are often a source of plentiful supplies. It's long after the inhabitants have left or died…and so anything left behind is usually looted. I assumed as the door was sealed that I would be the first to get in." And then they mutter disdainfully to themself, "seems I was right about that at least."

"Well, since you're here," Varric slings his rifle on his back. "Why not come on in and inform us of what we've been missing?"

"Varric," Cassandra is still sighted at them.

"We need to know," Vivienne says. And drops the muzzle of her own sniper rifle. "There are more of us, darling. If they try anything, I am certain we can handle it."

"And when they leave, they'll know where we live," I observe. A little sardonically. "You came here alone? You seemed to expect something or you wouldn't have brought a weapon."

They chuckle a little and then stop when they seem to realize something. "You…ah. You wouldn't know. There are…creatures. People who were effected by radiation. They no longer think or feel. They are mindless and attack anything that moves. There are also heavily mutated animals, everywhere."

There's a prolonged pause before Vivienne laughs. "That is a valiant effort at fearmongering, but that is not how radiation works."

"Perhaps you should see for yourself," they say. And then casually sling their rifle on their back, like Varric did before. Slowly so as not to alarm anyone. "There are a group of them in the town just outside this Vault. I can show you."

Vivienne steps forward first, and hefts her rifle. "Lead on, then, my dear. Let us see these 'creatures' you speak of."


	5. Chapter 5

I can still hear the screaming and see their flailing limbs. Running at us with wild, dark eyes and sore-pocked skin…

"I just don't understand…" Vivienne's taking it hard. Leaning on the kitchen counter, having her fourth wine-drink-thing with a fancy name I can't remember. "…how this could be possible."

"No one understands it, exactly," our new friend informs us. "Not everyone can become a Ghoul, and of that number an even smaller amount of people are able to retain their minds afterwards. It seems to be a genetic disposition that causes the mutation itself."

Vivienne knocks back the wine drink and sighs, heavily. "Are you saying there are people out there, with this mutation that still have their minds intact?"

"Indeed," he replies.

They still haven't taken off any of their armor. I still can't see their face and their voice is still heavily distorted by their mask-thing.

"From what I saw above, there doesn't seem to be many people out re-claiming old cities and towns," Vivienne says. "Otherwise they'd have snapped up our isolated little community…Ghouls…notwithstanding."

"There are not enough humans around to begin full-scale recolonization efforts of Earth's surface. Even if there were…there are other dangers aside from Ghouls. More ferocious, stronger and sturdier." They confirm.

Vivienne nods. "And so what relief efforts are there for fully conscious Ghouls?"

They tilt their head. "I'm sorry?"

"I can't imagine it's  _comfortable_ , with their skin the way it is- and their vision! Those black and milky white eyes-" she inhales sharply and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Are there even any hospitals or doctors anymore?"

Our new friend shrugs, "there are medics scattered about. Who've learned the sciences from books, or relatives. But no formal hospitals that I know of…well. There are cities with denser populations of people, but…I wouldn't recommend going to any of them. They are likely closed-off even further than the last time I visited and they were not quite happy to receive travelers even then."

"I suppose that means there is work to be done, then," Vivienne stands up and brushes off her beautiful white and silver lace dress. It's a little dingy from sitting in lock-up for so long but it still complements her beauty in a way that's pretty breathtaking. "Nik, Leliana, please meet me in the lab when you have a moment."

And then she sweeps off in one graceful move, out the door and into the corridors beyond.

In her absence, there's kind of an awkward silence. Our new friend, and I am using that term very lightly- seems to sit a little  _too_  still. It's unnerving.

Every once in a while they shift or something, but it doesn't seem organic. It's like they're doing it on  _purpose_. Maybe they're just nervous.

"So where exactly are you from, friend?" Varric asks. "Also…forgot to ask your name?"

There's a low chuckle that emits from the mask. Distorted, but still you can tell it sounds pleasant. "My name is Solas. I suppose I should also ask for introductions."

"Nik," I say. Shortly, tensely. I'm not really sure who this person is, and I don't know what their deal is.

"Leliana," Leliana introduces herself and then gestures at a quiet and tense Cassandra beside her. "Cassandra."

"And that just now was Vivienne," Varric gestures off in the direction Viv disappeared to. "Me? Varric Tethras."

"Tethras…Varric…" Solas sounds out. "You wrote those books."

There's a pause of surprise.

"You know me?" Varric asks. Looking a little awed.

"Some digital copies of your books survived. Some of them corrupted, others complete but obviously pirated as they had no author's name on them. Someone has begun trying to finish the series, as far as I know." Solas informs us. "It's started quite the commotion in the trade routes as they anticipate the demand for them."

"Someone's trying to write the end of my series?" Varric's expression is interesting. "On the one hand, I'm…flattered. On the other…that's still my series and I almost had the ending finished before all this…"

"So publish the 'lost manuscript of Varric Tethras'," I reply. "You could say you were related to the original and found a digital copy amongst your ancestor's things or something."

Varric snaps and points at me with a twinkle in his eye and a grin. "That's  _exactly_  what I'm gonna do. I mean, if they're anticipating some kinda trade from someone trying to finish the novel that never got published- that means they really think there's gonna be demand for it. I could even keep writing novels to make a few bucks. Can't imagine it'll be as much as before, but…" He shrugs. "I'm a writer. I couldn't stop if I wanted to."

"There are many people in the wasteland who use books as an escape," Solas tells Varric. "If you were to create more, I'm certain they would be grateful for the effort you put into it even more than your fans before the war."

"World's a lot more grim now, that's for sure." He agrees. "That's the strange thing though, I usually wrote things a bit…tragic. Why not pick someone who wrote happy things, or regular old fairy tales? Doesn't reading depressing things depress people even worse?"

"I wouldn't call your books depressing," I say. "They might end badly sometimes, or have tragic romance in them, but usually justice is served and the good guy gets to die heroically. Maybe nowadays that's all people want. Maybe a happily ever after is just…too unrealistic for them."

"Indeed," Solas agrees. "It would serve you better to see the small moments of triumph in everyday misery here if you wish to reach the people of this world. Hopeful stories that end happily are also valued, of course. But less relatable to a wider audience."

"I'll just…have to try to balance between realistic pessimism and hopeful optimism and see how that works." Varric chuckles. "Can't believe I'm finishing my book two hundred years after I actually wrote it. Talk about writer procrastination." He mutters the last bit to himself as he gets up and walks out of the room, 'Bianca' prominently visible on his back as he goes. "I'm gonna get started right away."

She  _is_  a beautiful weapon.

And now that all that's left is me, Cass, Leli and our new 'friend'…the air is tense.

While I do agree with Cassandra that letting Solas in when we didn't even know or trust them was a bit…naive on Varric's part…

Well, they  _did_  inform us about Ghouls, then help us fight them off when the pack saw us, and then followed us home to explain more.

Could've just run off when the fight started, or even turned on us, but they didn't…

So I take a deep breath, turn to face them and ask a question that's been burning in me for a while now. "Why did you come here?"

"I heard the vault was empty, as I've said," they reply.

"No I mean, why  _now_? And who told you?" I ask.

They chuckle a little and it's still kinda distorted by their mask. "Very good questions, but unfortunately I do not have a satisfying answer for you. It was simply known that this area had a vault somewhere that was presumably untouched. Many had tried to reach it and failed. It was common knowledge. Information about many vaults in many areas, just seems to get around."

I notice they're not answering the first question but I decide to let it go, even if just to give them a false sense of security. If they think I'm buying their diversions and whatnot, they'll be more likely to slip up, I think.

"Then I guess we'll have to be prepared to meet more guests," I say. "And repel the inevitable invasion that'll come when everyone figures out we're here."

I think they were about to say something, but they subside into silence at the sound of a…is their stomach growling?

They clear their throat, and I think they sound embarrassed. "If you'll excuse me, now. I have not had a meal all day and I'd prefer to find a place to camp before night falls."

"You'll stay here," I say. "We can feed you and give you a room."

"Am I a prisoner now?" they ask, voice very quiet and dangerous.

"No, but it would make me feel a hell of a lot better about letting you run off into the countryside with news of our Vault to spread everywhere if you weren't in such a hurry to be gone." I snap. "You're so fucking eager I wonder if I should just shoot you and save us the trouble of the gang you'll probably bring back with you."

There's a considering silence before they speak. They seem to be thinking very carefully and with no rush to be finished.

Which just makes me so much antsier.

"Do you not think I myself feel that I am in danger here?" They ask. "I am surrounded by heavily armed people who took me out and then back into their vault at gunpoint. Why on earth would I want to stay?"

"Why would you want to leave, is the better question," I respond. "When you've seen what this vault holds."

I don't know why Cass and Leli have been so quiet this whole time, but they seem content to let me take the role of the antagonist here. If we're going to let this person go, I need to know it won't be a mistake.

"I am not a murderer, for what little my word matters to you," they say. "Neither am I the type to take what is not mine unless it is owed to me. And so far as our dealings have gone, you have not hired me and then failed to pay me."

"Hired you for what?" Just kinda pops out of my mouth. "I mean what…is your job?"

There's a small noise like they just huffed at me from under their mask. "I am something of a mercenary, though my jobs do not involve the usual mercenary work. I dive deep into underground vaults, search deserted cities…salvaging what I can."

"I'll make a deal with you, Solas." I finally decide.

They tilt their head to the side. "Indeed?"

"If I can hire you for an unorthodox job, all my reservations about you will just melt away and this conversation can be over. But if I let you go and you don't come back, I want you to know I will not make it easy for this place to be taken."

"And what sort of job is it that you would ask of me?" they ask. Relaxing more and more by the moment.

I guess knowing someone wants something from you makes the power balance more even.

"I'm going out into the wasteland, and you're going to show me the ropes," I respond. "Come back tomorrow and we can figure out where to go first."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it seems I have NOT actually forgotten about this fic...

I have the vaguest idea of how to use a gun and I can swing a bat as easily as anyone else.

But I knew if I wanted to survive what the world had become, I'd need more than that.

And since everyone else agreed that it was  _such_  a great idea to go out and get some experience with someone to guide us along the way…

I now have to take at least one more person from our party when I go out with Solas. And since we've got more than one of these little expeditions planned, I'll have the opportunity to take everyone at some point or another.

"Everything looks so strange," Leliana whispers. "I feel like the world has died and anything that grows is growing upon its corpse."

"Not quite dead yet," Solas responds, as quietly but without whispering. "Simply dying. Very slowly. Or perhaps only injured. Time will tell."

It's not that I wanted to be alone with them. It's just… I didn't wanna put anyone else in danger by taking them along if I didn't have to. And going alone with them to suss out their intentions seemed like a perfect arrangement to  _me_.

But now that I've got a spy along too, that whole idea seems a bit silly.

What was I trying to prove, exactly? Or what did I think would happen that only I could guard myself against, without help? I don't even know what got into me.

Or why Leliana and Cassandra deferred to me until Solas was gone. And even after they came back…

"We are almost to the church," Solas says while pointing ahead. "Though there isn't much left of it."

"I hope I can salvage something," Leliana says. "Even a simple prayerbook would be enough."

"The books have likely been used for fire starting material if they survived this long at all. It is far more likely you will find old relics still standing. Statuettes, jewelry…" Solas explains.

"If I could find one of the Chantry statuettes of Andraste, that would be even better," Leliana smiles. "Even if it is a little broken, I could have my own shrine in the Vault. We could make one of the bedrooms into a makeshift Chantry space."

"Sure, but I don't worship the Maker," I say. "So I hope you don't mind if I don't come to services with you and Cassandra. And possibly Varric."

"Vivienne is Andrastian as well though I expect her own worship is more personal and private. I do not mind that you do not wish to join us, but you will be lonely all by yourself if we are all observing holy days of prayer together without you." She seems genuinely sad.

"I'll just have to schedule my outings to coincide with your prayer times. I can gather those fauna and flora samples that Vivinne needs for stuff any time, after all." I reply.

"Ah, here we are," Solas steps ahead of us up a slight incline toward an old, broken down house. Or what looks like a house.

Funny how churches just look like weirdly long houses.

"Go ahead Leliana, we'll wait out here," I draw my rifle off my back and settle against the wall of the church. "Watch for anyone coming, and…you can yell if there's anyone in there."

"Thank you," she smiles and walks into the Church, looking happier than I've seen her since we woke up.

"I am surprised that your companions' biggest worry upon discovering their world was a wasteland was…spiritual," Solas says. "I assumed finding others or foraging for necessary supplies would take precedence."

That's a very leading statement. They say it like they've already considered it and already know why. Only reason to bring it up is because he wants me to confirm or…just to taunt me.

"Don't toy with me," I give them a sideways glance. "Say what you wanna say instead of dancing around and trying to make me do the work for your showing off."

There's a pause and they seem to consider what they're going to say before they say it. Something they do a lot. Which is funny considering that what comes out still manages to be infuriating half the time.

"I gather you do not like me very much," they say.

"I don't trust you," I reply. "Everyone else in that vault, we went through…an ordeal together. Who are you? Some scavenger who stumbled upon us at just the most convenient time possible?"

"Ah. That does seem suspicious if you've truly been in stasis for as long as you've said…" their voice becomes quiet then. "I do not trust any of you either."

Somehow that actually makes me feel better.

"NIK!" Leliana's shout comes from within and I'm bolting up the steps before it can fade from my ears.

Solas isn't far behind me.

We walk in and-

"What the hell!?" I aim my gun at the…the  _behemoth_  of muscle before us. Then pause when I see their hands up in the air…right next to their…incredibly huge horns. "Who are you?"

A warm chuckle escapes the incredibly large, strange…man? And he looks down at me with only one eye. The other covered with an ornately tooled leather eyepatch. "Not many people stop to ask, so I'll be polite this time and introduce myself. Name's Bull. Now…why are you in our house?"

Leliana is in the corner, pointing her rifle directly at him, but she also hesitated, so I'm guessing she's letting me take the lead, here.

"This used to be our neighborhood, a long time ago." I explain. "Leliana wanted something, a prayer book or a statue or something."

"You're Andrastian then," he turns and pins Leliana with a very direct stare. "So are some of my guys."

I look and notice there's a whole group behind him, basically hiding in his shadow- their guns are trained on us, but they also haven't started shooting.

So I take a chance. I slowly stand as straight as I can, letting my rifle point down toward the floor. Leliana follows my example and I don't look back to check what Solas is doing. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to trade for something, would you?"

Bull breaks into a large grin and half-turns back to his men. "Anything we can spare from back there?"

A man in patchy leather armor steps to the front and seems to have lowered his own weapon in good faith. "We need food, medical supplies or any ammo or armor you can spare. We'd trade you a hymnal, a miniature statuette and a prayer bead necklace."

"We have food," Leliana says. "But how much would you need?"

"Tell you what," Bull says. "I'll make a deal with you. Bring at least enough for all of us to eat a good meal for maybe two days? That'll be enough."

"How much do  _you_  eat?" I ask.

And there's a pause in the room before Bull guffaws for a second.

I feel slightly uncomfortable as I'd thought that was a perfectly reasonable question. I can't know his dietary needs if I don't ask. He's big. Tall and broad- plus he's likely really active what with all the muscle packed on him. He must have to eat a lot.

"I can get by on the same amount as another man, but to fill me up? About three times as much." He explains once he's done laughing. "Won't make you give up that much food though. Even if you can spare it, it's easier to go without if you're used to a little bit of hunger."

Well that just makes me want to shove a whole cake down his throat. "We'll see what we can do. We can come back in a few days?"

"Three days should be long enough, right?" he asks. "Any longer than that, we'll assume you died. No offense, just better to err on the side of caution, usually."

"We can do that," I nod. "Come on you two." I turn my back on them very deliberately.

Leliana will fire before they can think of shooting me in the back and Solas is a very capable person, or so I've come to gather. If I hear shots, I'll dive behind a pew.

But if there's no shots, then that means I really can trust them not to shoot me in the back. At least so long as I'm doing them a favor, anyway.

Which means new friends. And isn't  _that_  exciting?


End file.
